The Accidental War

The Accidental War is the name given to a period in May and June 1983 during which tensions between BC and the United States escalated severely, leading to several exchanges of fire between BC and American police and military forces.

Background
The dispute between BC and the United States over the border between BC and Alaska, referred to as the Alaska boundary dispute or the "Alaska Panhandle dispute, predates the American purchase of Alaska from Russia. Despite the overall issue being settled via arbitration, and despite the specific matter of the sea border in Dixon Entrance being resolved as well, the US continued to dispute the location of the sea border within the entrance, which has led to numerous conflicts over commercial fishing in the area, which collectively have been called "Salmon Wars".

More immediate to the Accidental War was the US's unilateral 1977 definition of a "maritime boundary" as an equidistant line between land masses, which led to an increase in US Coast Guard patrols in US-claimed waters from 1980-81. Through 1982 and the beginning of 1983 the Royal BC Navy and BC Coast Guard became much more aggressive in patrolling BC-claimed waters, chasing off Alaskan fishing boats that were fishing in disputed areas.

First incident, 19 March 1983
On 19 March 1983, tensions spiked after an Alaskan fishing boat shot down a BCCG helicopter. The captain of the vessel later reported that the shots fired were intended only as a warning to try to chase the helicopter off, but several rounds hit the pilot's side window, killing the pilot, who slumped over onto his controls, sending the helicopter crashing into the sea. The fishing boat rescued the other two crew members, who were questioned by Alaskan police before being returned to BC on a commercial flight through Whitehorse, Canada.

The downing of the BCCG helicopter caused a massive public outcry in BC, stoking anti-US sentiment and tensions over the disputed area on the Alaska-BC border to levels not seen since 1939, when RBCN Sea Skemcis and USN Kingfisher float-fighters were deployed to the area, or 1956-1959 after the collision incident between the patrol boat HMBCS Skidegate and the cutter USCGC Dexter. In response, the Royal BC Air Force increased air patrols over land and sea claimed by BC; the patrols were undertaken by No. 9 (F) Squadron based at RBCAF Terrace, supplemented by a detachment from No. 3 (F) Sqn normally based at RBCAF Comox. In response, the US Air Force's 21st Tactical Fighter Wing based at Elmendorf AFB sent detachments of F-4Es and F-15As to Juneau airport, where they operated similar patrols over the extent of US-claimed territories.

Second incident, 11 May 1983
On 11 May 1983, the first exchange of fire took place when a USCG cutter, the USCGC Yocona intercepted a BC fishing boat. The fishing boat put out a distress call, which was responded to by the RBCN hydrofoil patrol boat HMBCS Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie.

The fishing boat ignored the Yocona's order to withdraw from the area, responding that the cutter was in BC waters and that a report had been made regarding the incursion into BC territorial waters. The warning was repeated, and after the second warning was ignored, the Yocona put a shot across the bow of the fishing boat. The boat sent another message, this time reporting that it was under attack.

The Begbie arrived several minutes later thanks to its extremely high speed of 60 knots (69 mph, 110 km/h), and without warning opened fire on the Yocona with its 12.7 mm machine gun, killing one of the USCG crewmen who was on deck; the Yocona returned fire, missing the Begbie. Begbie signalled Yocona, informing it that it was illegally in BC waters, that it had acted aggressively against a ship flying the BC civil (red) ensign, and that if the cutter did not immediately withdraw, it would be attacked with the patrol boat's MM.39 Exocet missiles. The Yocona backed down and departed, and on the following day the US Navy sent the Spruance-class destroyer USS Oldendorf from Naval Station San Diego to the area. With the retirement of the cruiser HMBCS New Westminster in 1979, the RBCN had no surface ship nearly as large as the Spruance-class ships, but it did have its attack and coastal submarines and the missile-armed patrol hydrofoils. The Lagoon-class coastal submarine HMBCS Carrington was sent north to shadow the Oldendorf, and three missile boats were sent from Esquimalt to supplement the five stationed at Prince Rupert and Skidegate.

Talks begin, 21 May 1983
As the situation was escalating rapidly, BC and US diplomats began talking, with the first meeting between the BC Foreign Minister and the US Secretary of State happening at Calgary, Canada, attended by the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs. This first round of talks started on 21 May and lasted six days before breaking down on 27 May after neither side was willing to compromise to a degree satisfactory to both sides. On 30 May, BC offered to submit to mediation with the UK serving as the arbiters, but the US rejected this proposal, claiming that the United Kingdom would be biased in favour of BC. The Americans made a counter-proposal on 2 June, offering Mexico as the mediator, but BC rejected this for the same reasons.

First air actions, 24 May to 3 June 1983
By that point, air patrols of both sides had become a daily thing, each side prodding at the other. On 24 May, four USAF F-4Es made a dash towards Prince Rupert; they were intercepted off the coast by RBCAF Lightnings of No. 1 (F) Sqn from RBCAF Terrace. After entering visual range, the F-4Es turned around and returned to base.

On 26 May, three Shukopoots FGA.3 from the No. 10 (S) Sqn detachment at RBCAF Dease Lake undertook a "retaliation", in which they flew west at low level, hugging the terrain until popping up to buzz downtown Juneau at low level, causing several thousand dollars' worth of damage in broken windows; as the USAF fighters deployed to Juneau airport were up on patrol at the time, the FGA.3s managed to return to BC without being intercepted. This was the first instance of an air mission that entered airspace over undisputed land; the officer commanding the 10 Sqn detachment was chastised, but apart from the formal reprimand, no action was taken against him.

Such exchanges continued for over a week, each side testing the other. The largest of these occurred on 3 June, when four F-4Es armed for air-to-ground, escorted by four F-15As, headed for RBCAF Dease Lake. They were intercepted by Lightnings of No. 2 (F) Sqn based at Dease Lake, and after their threat receivers went off when locked onto by anti-aircraft missiles of the airbase battery of the 3rd Air Defence Regiment RBCA, the US aircraft withdrew.

Naval action, 2 June 1983
A day earlier, the submarine Excalibur successfully closed on the USN destroyer, closing in to well within kill range off the stern of the ship; instead of torpedoes, however, the sub captain sent out a sonar ping and surfaced, making the signal "Bang, you're dead. Go home."

Last air action, 4 June 1983
On 4 June, a USAF patrol of two F-15s intercepted an RBCAF patrol of Shukopoots F.3s of No. 9 (F) Sqn over the waters of Dixon Entrance north of the Queen Charlotte Islands. Not for the first time, the fighters dropped tanks, and also not unusual was the dogfight that broke out between the four aircraft. In all previous cases, the dogfighting ended after the given leader had his tail 'waxed'.

In this instance, however, the furball got a bit more aggressive. The F.3 leader tangled with the F-15 leader, and eventually the American managed to get the position, locking himself onto the F.3's six. An opportunity opened up for the number two F.3, who pounced onto it, getting on the aft of the F-15 leader and sending an AIM-9L up the American's starboard tailpipe. The engine disintegrated and the pilot ejected.

The F.3 leader had the presence of mind to go level, immediately radioing for a Coast Guard or Navy vessel to pick the American pilot up. The fighters all disengaged and returned to base, and the USAF pilot was quickly rescued by an RBCN patrol boat.

Military operations suspended, 5-6 June 1983
On 5 June, the BC Defence Ministry grounded all RBCAF activity at Dease Lake and Terrace and recalled all RBCN vessels to their home ports, though allowing BCCG boats to remain active; this action was taken in order to give a concrete signal to the US that this incident was unintentional, and that BC had no desire to escalate the situation further. The US responded by issuing a similar order on the 6th, with USAF fighters returning from Juneau to Elmendorf AFB and the USN destroyer returning to Bremerton.

Discussions, 9-17 June 1983
On 9 June, another meeting of foreign ministers took place at Calgary, at which an agreement was made to have a meeting between the US President and the Prime Minister of BC in Manila, Philippines on 14 June. Over the next three days an agreement was hammered out.

Though the question of the border remained unresolved, Dixon Entrance and the other disputed waters were declared a "fisheries total exclusion zone" (FTEZ) in which all commercial fishing was outlawed. Further, the area was declared off limits to USN and RBCN ships except with prior approval of both parties, and USCG and BCCG vessels would jointly enforce the no-fishing rule in the FTEZ. The BC government also paid for the cost of repairs of the damage in downtown Juneau caused by the buzzing by RBCAF aircraft, though both sides agreed to assume the respective losses of materiel themselves (one BCCG helicopter and one USAF fighter destroyed).

Aftermath
Since the implementation of the FTEZ the situation has settled considerably, and no major incidents have taken place in the nearly 30 years that have since passed. This has been facilitated by the joint patrols operated by the USCG and BCCG. When a violation is noted, both BCCG and USCG vessels intercept, and once the nationality of the violating vessel has been identified, the coast guard of that country handles the eviction.

Though tensions remained fairly high for about a year, by 1986 the situation had settled itself to such a degree that BC and the US reached an agreement on border crossings, whereby passports were no longer required at land crossings between the two countries.

F/o Frank Hamilton, the pilot who shot down the USAF F-15, was given a formal reprimand and suspended from flying for six months starting on 22 June 1983. However, the USAF roundel "kill mark" that had been applied to his aircraft remained there until the aircraft was overhauled in 1985, and was re-applied after its restoration for display at the BC Aviation Museum in 2003 (the 20th anniversary of the Accidental War). Further, the kill is officially acknowledged by the RBCAF as a combat kill, though it is generally not publicised.